- Montane laughingthrushes are endemic to the Western Ghats.
- BirdLife International, an organisation which assesses the conservation status of birds globally, has split the group of montane laughingthrushes and recognised them as two new species.
- As a result, Kerala now has four mountain laughingthrushes in place of two.
- The newly accepted species are Banasura laughingthrush (Trochalopteron jerdoni), which has a very restricted distribution in Wayanad district and Travancore laughingthrush (Trochalopteron merdionale) found in Thiruvananthapuram district.
- The conservation status of the Banasura species was assessed as endangered.
- The Travancore variety was considered vulnerable, considering the risk both the species were facing.
- The two original species of the family were Nilgiri laughingthrush and Palani laughingthrush.
- The Nilgiri species, assessed as an endangered one, is found in Silent Valley National Park and Siruvani hills of Kerala.
- The near-threatened Palani laughingthrush is found mainly in Munnar hills and the mountains of Periyar Tiger Reserve apart from Grass Hills and Palani hills in Tamil Nadu.
- Laughingthrushes are found only in the peaks of Western Ghats, popularly known as sky islands.
- These mountain peaks are separated from the others so well that the birds from one sky island find difficult to move to the next sky island.
- This has resulted in the creation of four closely related species, each of them occupying a series of mountain tops across the entire range of southern Western Ghats.
About BirdLife International:
- BirdLife International (formerly the International Council for Bird Preservation) is a global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.
- It is the world’s largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations.
- BirdLife International is the official Red List authority for birds, for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.